Penpal
by SaccharineSickness
Summary: After kindergarten and even when the other pen pals had gradually lost interest. Nepeta had still found herself to be writing letters to a boy who was a million miles away. Humanstuck!KatNep
1. Chapter 1

"Bye, mama!" with a kiss on the cheek a young child had jumped out of her seat, her mother waving behind her calling out, "Good bye, Nepeta!"

Her light brown curls bounced as she skipped down the hall to her Kindergarten classroom. Nepeta's excitement was made obvious by how wide her grin had become.

It wasn't only because, with the help of her older sister Meulin, she had finished her blue kitty-eared headband and was excited to see how her friends thought…but that the pen pal activity Ms. Aranea had announced was to begin this day!

She'd wonder what her pen pal would be like, could they draw like she could? Maybe they had a pet, perhaps a cat! Or maybe they'd be what she would least expect… And that just added into her anticipation. She couldn't wait! Or maybe she could…but—! There was no time for musing because as soon as she had come across her classroom's door she could hear the bursting ruckus and from the little window on the center of the door a paper plane glided in and out of her view.

Nepeta pressed her small hands against the door, pushing it open. As if the collective noise of chattering kids wasn't loud enough it felt like a booming stereo in front of her face as soon as she walked in.  
Looking around she caught sight of her small group of friends waving for her attention in one of the tables at the back.

Nepeta returned the gesture; giggling and opening her arms in reciprocation to the hug she was greeted with by her friend Feferi who immediately reeled her into their group.  
With another brief exchange hellos and how are yous (and a pounce-gr33ting for Equius!)  
They'd gone into idle chatter of small nothings, the interest and praise for the new accessory sitting in her head...which honestly made her quite proud, and the thoughts of the upcoming activity.

It wasn't until much later when the door opened did the entire class become silent while displaced children started scrambling for their seats.

Once they greeted their teacher she had began to introduce the concept to them.  
For this first letter they followed a loose structure of introducing themselves, their interests and hobbies yet still allowed them freedom of what to write.  
Ms. Aranea had the kids by the front distribute papers, envelopes and boxes of crayons while she blathered about something along the lines of keeping traditional letter writing alive.

Nepeta barely heard what had been said, her fingers already grasping for the box of crayons that was to be shared within their table group.

"Hey, calm down," called out Terezi with a cackle, "You're supposed to share."  
"Sorry, sorry." Nepeta tittered, taking out a single green crayon and pushing the box back into the center of their table.

After quite a lot of thought Nepeta had started on her note with the best she could manage in shaky curlicues she had finished her note with a;

"Hi my name's Nepeta! I like cats I have a cat named Pounce, napping, being with my friends and playing outside.

I also like to draw and write stories!

What about you? I hope you write back soon! :33 "

By the end of the page she had scribble a crude stick drawing of her and Pounce de Leon with a little word bubble above her head with the words "Hi" inscribed in them.

While waiting for the rest of the class to finish, her table had exchanged each others letter. Nepeta admiring Aradia and Equius' neat writing and Terezi and Feferi's colorful designs.  
Nepeta had packed the letter with a loom rubberband bracelet she had decided to spare, at the reminder of the optional choice to leave a little gift for their penpal before; sealing her envelope and passing it onto her teacher.

She hoped her penpal liked the color red.

Weeks rolled by until finally they had gotten something in return, their teacher had come in one day with a small box of mail.  
Handing them out one by one from the names of the receivers written on the back of the envelope.  
Each student bounded for their letters as soon as their names were called with a lucky few who had gotten a small token in return.  
Nepeta had found that all her friends had received their notes before her and had already begun reading except for a distressed Equius who had somehow ripped the paper container open but had thankfully spared his the letter inside to his relief.

"So who'd you get?" she heard Aradia's voice ask to no specific person as Nepeta took her seat.

"Somebody named Gamzee." Terezi said with a wrinkle of her nose, "My letter smells like soda...it has stains too."

"Gross!" laughed Feferi.

Nepeta smiled at the exchange though her focus was on the letter and had begun carefully opening the envelope.  
It wasn't the thing that actually mattered but she felt she wanted to preserve it...for sentimental reasons?  
She didn't even really know what sentimental meant.

Taking out the pencil smudged paper she found big letters written in a jagged bold the words;  
"MY NAME IS KARKAT. I LIKE WATCHING MOVIES, MY FRIENDS,"  
where written under the phrase was '_when they're not bothering me'_

"I THINK IM A GOOD LEADER.

ALSO, THANKS FOR THE GIFT.  
SORRY I COULDN'T GET YOU ANYTHING, MAYBE NEXT TIME."

* * *

_Hello! This is my first fic on this account._  
_Critiques and ideas for future chapters are always welcome! I cannot guarantee a set schedule for updates or quick one for that school had started in my country and well...you know the drill._


	2. Chapter 2

A red tip pressed firmly against the sheet of paper flicking left and right to bring color to one among multiple figures that had danced across the paper.

Every week was something to look forward to for the class, the penpal activity was definitely such a fun idea!  
But well, since kindergarten was more of just learning to tie your shoes and communicating with each other it was that more memorable.  
And Nepeta hoped letter-writing day would come soon because after an hour at work she'd finally finished  
a piece she had felt proud of!

At first her penpal, Karkat, had found it to be incredibly silly but had gradually become encouraged to play along with taking turns in writing small and nonsensical stories at the backside of their letters.  
Each person could add a sentence or phrase; they could have their own character, and making one was one of the fun parts, or simply progress the story by making the other's character move along.

Initially Karkat had just made her super-duper cool cat-huntress of the wild act really dumb as soon as they started off but to Nepeta's delight he'd introduced some odd crab-like sea monster who'd often just grumble and snip about.  
And it was funny how similarly it would act to her penpal judging how both of them seem to ramble so often on paper.

And with the crab in mind she'd admired the work she's done of coloring it on paper.  
Her art was quite crude compared to her older sister's but hey, it felt like she'd improved somewhat!  
She'd just had the greatest idea of translating their current story into a comic strip.  
It was vaguely about exploring a sunken tunnel full of treasures and monsters along with some other whimsies.

Nepeta grinned at her genious.  
Karkat had better appreciate this one! She'd spilt her blood, sweat and tears on this thing.  
Or...more of cereal she'd spilled on the floor and had to clean up some time ago really.

Nepeta sat up straight, her neck was killing her! Already beginning to clean up her crayons and pens. Folding the paper and tucking it into a pocket in her small backpack and then opting to nap on the couch afterwards with Pounce.

Letter-writing day couldn't come as quickly as she had hoped and when it did she had immediately began spilling her thoughts onto the lined paper.  
Nepeta had filled him up on recent happenings, simple replies to things he's asked.  
He'd always been fun to talk to, she'd wondered how great it would be to do the same without waiting for ages for a response.  
She'd been allowed to express her contempt about things to him without Equius scolding her or having to wait until the girls were done speaking for her to add something in!

She let out a snorted laugh that shortly grabbed the attention of amused looks from her friends to which she just shrugged and grinned again.  
Nepeta had remembered that he made mention of a "dopey friend" who'd caused a rather unpleasant chain of events during snack time that had made the room much more vibrant with shades of macaroni and cheese yellow, ketchup red and so on.

Nepeta had slipped the letter into an envelope along with her comic strip with her hands beneath the table.

Shady...

Hey, it was classified information!

Mumbled chatter had began to rise around the classroom signalling that the other kids in her class had finished too.

And looking up she found a rather bored Terezi with her chin leaning against the palm of her hand.

Beginning to rise from her seat Nepeta asked, "Still no letter from Gamzee?"

"Nnnope." was the response from her friend with a emphasising pop on the _nnnope-puh_.

"Perhaps you could have Ms. Aranea ask about him?" Nepeta heard Equius offer as she'd started making her way over to the small shoe box on her teacher's desk where letters were being placed.

"It's fine, I think. Half the time I can barely make out what he's writing!" Terezi answered, for a tiny moment her brows scrunched together in mild irritation behind her glasses.

Feferi, who had already passed on her note had added, "You could ask her to get you a new partner instead, then?"

"If they aren't all already taken." Aradia pointed out at which Feferi's shoulders slumped with a slight pout on her face; "Oh, right...!"

Now returning to her seat beside Equius, Feferi had already changed the subject.  
"But speaking of partners, what are yours like? Mine writes funny, I can't tell his v's and w's apart!"

"Huh, my penpal looks like he likes the number two and computer games too apparently." Aradia laughed.

Equius pursed his lips, as if carefully choosing his words, before briefly saying "She is polite...but a bit prodding on what goes on here."

"Mine kinda complains a lot, I think it's pretty funny!"

"They sound really cool, you guys, I'm jealous!" Terezi said jokingly, prompting a laugh from her friends.

They however, with the others in class had quieted down when their teacher had called out to the class to settle down.

"I'm sure you'd be very excited to hear that in about a month, hopefully, that everyone in this class will be able to go on a fieldtrip. We haven't planned where yet but you will be able to meet your penpals." Ms. Aranea had announced, to which the class had responded with cheery whoops and hollers.

Nepeta was wide-eyed at this point, it felt as though her jaw had comically dropped onto the floor.

No way, this must be dream! Looking around she spotted the smiling faces of her friends with the exception of Terezi who, even with the ruckus the kids made, was heard saying "I'd be surprised if he'd even show up!"

Nepeta stared ahead at nothing and with a blank, seemingly entranced voice she said, "Somebody pinch me."

"I'd rather not-" Equius could barely muster before Feferi had reached across the table with an "Okay!"

_"OWW!"_  
This was definitely, completely, a hundred perecent not a dream.

* * *

Whew, had this up in a whim! Thanks for the first two review you guys, I'm glad you like it so far.  
I'll try to update as often as possible.


	3. Chapter 3

Over the course of the last few weeks, Nepeta had just found something to pass the time and probably to let out the pent up zing that had made the bounces in her steps a lot bigger.  
The tree in her backyard was amazingly tall with branches placed in a way that Nepeta had been able to climb up without even needing a boost!

It was a win/win the way her house was modeled allowed her mother to see her up there whilst cooking up dinner.  
And by the end of the month she'd found herself to be able to reach halfway up the old pine tree where she had commonly sat on the firmest branch to enjoy the peace of which at being such a height would offer.  
Nepeta was never afraid of doing such a feat much to her friends' surprise.

It seemed to have been among a many favourite pastimes in generations of the Leijon line. Her mother never seemed to worry claiming that even her older sister; Meulin had begun the same thing at a young age.

And with this thought in her mind the young girl had obviously started becoming a bit too confident.

Grinning at a waving Meulin, who was stuffing pop tarts into her mouth all the while reading a book on the kitchen table, Nepeta jumped to grab the first branch. Scaling the tree with more bursts of speed than ever, she'd hope to set of record of how fast she was able to climb too.

Now on the branch she had stopped on just yesterday she steadied her footing.  
And when she thought she was ready, she jumped for the next one before even getting a good hold on the branch.

Everything was a dizzying blur on the way down and even more so when she reached the ground.

In the background she could hear the kitchen door swing open and Meulin's voice shrieking frantically for their mom.

She wasn't sure what to think except for how the world distorted in a strangely funny way.

And of course, that meant that she'd start the next month with a cast.

But at least Meulin had been somewhat optimistic about it, offering her younger sister a secondhand set of markers to make the situation a lot less miserable after a few days off; holed up in her bedroom.

It wasn't long until her cast, once completely blank, was filled with tiny scribbles of names and little drawings mostly by her group of friends who lunged at her with the news of her incident from Equius and his family who had been in contact with her own.

"Wait, give me a sec." Terezi mumbled, inscribing yet another silly doodle on Nepeta's cast. Among the sea of names written on the cast and a few words of positivity a lot of the contributions was Terezi's.

"So, did Ms. Aranea say when the field trip was? If…it is happening."  
Asked Nepeta, her arms stretch as much as she could for Terezi to finish her latest addition.

Aradia tapped her chin as if in remembrance, "She told us it was next week…on Monday."

"And we're going to an Oceanarium! I don't know about you but I'm super excited for it!" giggled Feferi who spoke the words with wide-eyed wonderment, her bubbly perspective definitely radiated off of her.

"Of course, you'd be." laughed Aradia at the girl's obvious excitement at the very idea of anything related to the big blue.

Returning a serious gaze to Nepeta, Equius suggested, "But maybe you shouldn't come. What if something bad happens and it makes your broken arm worse?"

_Typical Equius! _Nepeta thought. "No way! I've been waiting for this I'm not gonna have a silly arm keep me from going!" she tapped her cast, "It isn't fair if you guys get to go over there and meet your pen pals without me!"

Concluded Equius, "Just as long as you're careful." His arms crossed.

"Aren't I always?" responded Nepeta with a cheerful smile.

"And that's coming from the girl who broke her arm while climbing up a tree." Quipped Equius who smirked just a little bit, his uneven set of teeth gleaming behind his lips just enough to emphasize how proud he was of that comment.

Nepeta, somewhat flustered, stuck out her tongue with a loud**_ "pbbbthhh!"_**  
to the amusement of the other children.

"Ms. Aranea did say we could bring someone to look after us…you could have your mom go with you." Terezi muttered, switching the marker in her hand with a yellow one.

Speaking of Terezi,

"Wait, hey! Leave some spaaace!" droned Nepeta, shooing her friend away.

"What? Why?" Terezi whined in return. Dejectedly stuffing the yellow marker back with its colorful companions in the container.

"To make space for Karkat, duh!"

* * *

_Bwahaha! Yes, after dragging out when Karkat and Nepeta actually meet...you'll see it happen next chapter!_  
_Promise, cross my heart! _

_Also, I'd like to thank you guys for all the kind reviews I've gotten and you might hear this a lot but it really motivates me to update a bit quicker._

_SRSLY!  
Also, a final note._

_Does the cover picture of your stories change when you upload a profile picture? Or is it just me...?  
I'm sorry, I'm noob! If it's an odd occurrence how can I reset the fanfic's cover picture?_

_A-anyway, reviews and ideas for future chapters are always welcome!_


	4. Chapter 4

"I'm ready, let's go!" Meulin yelled from the second floor, her boots thumping against the wooden steps of the stairs.

With a click, Nepeta's mother pressed the stapler into a piece of yarn and Nepeta's paper nametag.

"You have everything?" her mom asked, eyeing the siblings as she slowly moved their kitten off of her lap.

"Yup!" they say in unison, Nepeta tucking her crayons into her little cat-faced backpack.

A wide smile was printed on her face today was finally the day! They'd see a bunch of cool fishes and not only that; the class would meet their pen pals.

Crawling off of her seat she followed her mom and sister out of the door but not before waving a good bye to a sleepy-eyed Pounce who simply flicked her tail as she trotted off to find a comfy spot elsewhere.

"You're lucky," Meulin blurted out slowing down to walk by her younger sibling who slipped her nametag around her neck, "I don't think we had that in our class before—and a fieldtrip too? Geez!" she said a little bit too loudly although it wasn't quite her fault that her hearing had been deteriorating.

Looking back up at Meulin, Nepeta giggled "Hehe, but you still have them sometimes right?"  
"Not as often as I'd like!" replied Meulin, "And we don't really go to cool places." Before briefly turning her head and outstretching a hand to open up the back seat of the small family car, allowing Nepeta to jump in first.

Scooting off to the side in order to give Meulin some space, the younger sibling pushed out the bottom of her lip in a pout; "Huh…makes me less excited to move up then!" prompting a chuckle from Meulin.

The car rumbled to life and had steadily backed up. Nepeta pressed her face against the car window…watching as they passed familiar places in their little town.

In her mind she daydreamed the future events during her class's little trip, the good, the funny, the bad.

…She'd recalled being given Karkat's letter in response to the one weeks prior as soon as she had returned from the small break. He didn't seem as enthused about the trip as she had been.

A little nibbling crawled up against the skin on her arm and unconsciously Nepeta reached up to scratch the itch away…only to scrape her nails against a plastic texture.

Nepeta groaned in irritation in remembrance of the little incident and that meant there was no way to chase that annoying bugging on the plaster cast encased arm.

"Mama, it's itchy again!"

"I know it sucks, Nep, but it'll stop in a few days." Her mother replied with an inflection of amusement as she turned the wheel.

"You said that same thing three days ago…" Nepeta muttered still scratching futilely at the plaster cast with of course no avail.

Nepeta's mother pulled up in front of her kindergarten.

The girl stood up to kiss her mother and sister in good-bye before bouncing out of the car.

"As soon as I've dropped off Meulin, I'll catch up to you soon."

"Okay, mama!" Nepeta called in return, beginning to skip towards the entrance along with the children flooding into the building.

She'd noticed, on the way inside the set of yellow school buses that was shared among the school campus.

There seemed to be much space in them that could hold a bit more than the usual number of kids in her class.

Were the other classes' going on trips too? Probably not in the same place, her teacher had never mentioned it.

It had rarely struck her mind but it always surprised her that she and her sister had always been in the same school…the only difference was because of the lack of space, the buildings; Elementary and High school were separate just a mere few blocks away.

She felt someone grow close towards her and she turned her head to find Equius walking beside her.

As soon as she took notice he blurted a "Hello."before slowing down as he knew she'd throw herself at him in a big hug, "Good morning, Equius!" despite being used to this after their fairly long friendship it had still took a while to get his balance straight when she knocked him back.  
There was a small pause before Equius hugged her back gently, a small smile on his face.

"Alright, I think we should be getting going." Equius said with a sudden stutter, breaking the embrace first. Nepeta figured that he might've caught the others staring.

She didn't quite understand what he was embarrassed about! Sure the other kids give them funny looks but it was odd to Nepeta since she'd consider him family!

Besides…she knew he might've had a little bit of a crush on a certain girl in their group!

Nepeta just shrugged, not taking any offence, and had returned to walking alongside him to their class as per usual.

They met up with the rest of their bunch, had taken a seat by their respective table and had begun listening to Ms. Aranea's instructions.

It seemed it wasn't only Nepeta's mother to be joining the trip. A few of the adults sitting awkwardly on the small chairs at the back, either parents or guardians, she could see some semblance to a few of the kids or had recognized their faces

One of them looking quite similar to the shy boy who'd often found difficulty walking although he obviously looked older and had a peculiar trait of having a red blaze in his spiky hair.

Oh, wait…she was supposed to be paying attention!

Swiveling her eyesight towards Ms. Aranea up front she saw at the corner of her eyes the door open slightly, her mom slipping in and waving at Nepeta who reciprocated the a

gesture back with some embarrassment.

The older woman scuttling off to the back with the other adults after taking note of Ms. Aranea's seemingly irritated look of being interrupted yet again!

It wasn't long until the briefing was over, and children had started…if they haven't already, to put on the nametags they were instructed to make last Friday

In a single file they walked into one of the buses, on the way there seeing other classes pouring out of their rooms.

The parents and guardians were given space at the back, or had the option to go in their separate vehicles. A few, a long with Nepeta's mother, had gone off into their own cars. Probably to escape the oncoming ruckus you might expect from a bunch of bored kids packed in a bus!

The hour and a half ride itself was quite uneventful, most of the students likely being split from their friends with how the seating was planned to be by alphabetical arrangement. Had to stop a couple of times because this one youngster had gotten a bit too motion sick. Nepeta could've even sworn she'd caught Feferi snoring somewhere at the back! She almost laughed at Feferi's poor neighbor who had to deal with being the messy-haired girl's pillow.

She'd also remembered her friend ranting on and on about being way too excited she just couldn't go to bed even when her older sister had began yelling at her from her room.

Nepeta had at least made the brilliant choice to pack a notepad before leaving.

But in the end it had been worth it and Feferi who seemed content in the land of Zs had very much sprung to life as soon as the bus halted in the parking area and the same girl was the first to have been springing out of the bus much to their teacher's slight exasperation.

Everyone else followed suit, flashing admission tickets they had pre-ordered a week before with the exception of the adults.

The entrance building was massively grand; flooring was tiled with shades of blues and on the center of it all a large mosaic of a variety of fishes swimming in a circle.

The ceiling was high up; much, much, much, much, much higher than Nepeta could reach even if she strained as hard as she could.

Around the walls of the ceiling depicted different pictures of marine wildlife…ones she knew and other she couldn't believe existed!

And with the marveling of her new surroundings she had almost forgotten it was she was initially waiting for if it weren't for a tall woman being surrounded by a sea of kids around their ages.

Her teacher had taken notice of the other group and had gathered her students up before bringing Nepeta and her classmates over to the other flock.

Now seeing the woman up close it seemed she definitely was older than Nepeta's teacher…not saying she wasn't pretty. _She really was!_ Nepeta thought.

The tall woman with the short hair and obvious affinity for green spoke gracefully, Nepeta noted from the exchange between Aranea and she who introduced herself as Dolores.

Ms. Aranea had turned to her class and so did Mrs. Dolores, both similarly introduced each class to each other.

And this short time was to allow them to meet each other's pen pals.

Terezi grumbled beside Aradia and Nepeta, "If he isn't here…at least I wouldn't need to share anything during snack time." The words being followed by a cackle as the two different classes began to disperse…some of Nepeta's classmates had already found their pair.

She could see Feferi energetically shake the hand of a boy wearing a striped scarf; there was Aradia who was once at Nepeta and Terezi's side before suddenly disappearing into the crowd!

Equius was found nervously speaking to a girl who looked similar to Mrs. Dolores…huh…

Nepeta looked at all sides on the large room scanning each passing child's nametag if not for a known name…a familiar handwriting. Terezi was still by her side who did the same although with less effort.

Nepeta felt a tap on her shoulder, jolting instantly with a bubbly feeling before finding a surprised Terezi who looked her odd before simply saying, "I think I found my pen pal, I'm going to go over and say hi before he disappears."

Dismayed Nepeta put up a smile and said, "Okay."

Behind her, her mother approached; "Nepeta, where's your friend?"

"Um, I don't know. I don't see him." She mumbled in response, twiddling with her fingers.

"Why don't you go and ask one of the teachers? Maybe the one wearing green might help you find him."

_…Why didn't I think of that?_

"Oh, right!" Nepeta perked up suddenly, not even stopping to say thanks before she bolted over to Ms. Dolores.

Her mother simply shook her head with a chuckle.

Nepeta had found the tall woman to be talking to someone, she couldn't actually see who it was but then again the others had still been crowding around the area.

Nearing Mrs. Dolores, Nepeta had begun to call out for her.

The tall woman had looked up from the floor, glancing at Nepeta with a pleasant smile on her face; she waved Nepeta to come closer.  
"What's wrong, little one?"

Nepeta didn't even notice the mess of curly hair behind Mrs. Dolores as she faced the woman quickly; "Uh-um. I was wondering if you could help me find my pen pal? He's in your class...of course! Hehe!" she paused with an embarrassed laugh.

"What is his name?" there was a knowing tone in the woman's voice.

"Karkat."  
The small figure behind Dolores seemed to jump.

"See, I told you she'd be here." The woman outstretched a hand beside her and urged a youngster out of his hiding spot.

Nepeta blinked, tilting her head to the right as she eyed the boy in front of her.

He had curly black hair that seemed as though it never had been combed through at all! And he wore a pretty scratchy looking woolen sweater.

She'd have been clawing at herself if she were in that mess.

It wasn't until she saw his nametag, in the familiar jagged bold words 'Hi I'm Karkat' that she jumped at him.

He'd stood there uncomfortably at her staring and the sudden action had pretty much shocked him, Nepeta easily being able to knock the wind out of him, forced an angry yelp from the dark-haired boy who staggered to keep his step.

Nepeta hugged him as best she could with one arm that wasn't pinned into place by a cast.

_Karkat _(She couldn't believe she was actually seeing him!) squirmed at the tight hug, grousing incoherently at her.

It wasn't long until he had pushed her off of him, causing Nepeta to fall on her rear.

Karkat assumed the pose of crossing his arms with an irritated look before dropping the stolid posture at the sight of her.

"I'm-I'm sorry." He blurted, thrusting a hand towards her direction. His face spelled worry.

She took it, allowing him to pull her up on her feet; "It's okay!" she laughed. The happiness of finally getting to meet him…_for real!_ Was still on her system.

Besides, he did seem genuine about it…!

Karkat was pretty lucky Equius didn't see that though.

"I'm Nepeta!" she squeaked, shaking his hand as it was still in her grip.

"Yeah…I know." Karkat replied his voice wobbly from her shaking his hand vigorously.

"Sorry I'm just really, really, excited to see you!" Nepeta's grin grew even wider when she noticed what was dangling on his wrist.

The bracelet she sent! He'd kept it!

"Hey, you still have it! Do you like the bracelet I sent you?" she asked quickly.

He blinked simply at her animated demeanor before nodding his head saying, "I wouldn't have it on right now if I didn't like it."

Nepeta simply giggled, now letting go of his hand. There was pause between the two as they just glanced at each other. Karkat crossing his arms again, his eyes often faltering and looking elsewhere before returning back to hers.

"That looks like it hurt." Karkat pointed at her cast with a sudden subject change, his face changing from furrowed brows to a wide-eyed look of regard.

"It did…but not so much anymore." Nepeta answered him eagerly.

"I was…a bit worried that you wouldn't show up because of it. I'm sorry for pushing you too." He repeated his apology once again.

Nepeta shook her head, "It's fine I guess I just got a bit too jumpy! I don't usually do that when I meet someone new and I wouldn't want to miss something like this for the world!"

"You said you fell off a tree…that's kind of silly." Mumbled Karkat who almost immediately received a punch on the shoulder.

"Shut up!" she laughed as he rubbed his shoulders, "It's great you're okay though…" Karkat added.

The two's attention was taken by Ms. Aranea who instructed that each pair of pen pals were to be tour buddies and both had the responsibility to look after each other even if that child did have a guardian along. Soon they'd be going into the actual Oceanarium and this was their last minute to find their partner.

Nepeta grasped for Karkat's hand, the boy looking at her silly while she couldn't help but just smile at him.

* * *

_Oh jeez, longest chapter so far...probably might be a few of these fellas. Finally, the duo get to meet! Will be continuing the trip after this of course._

_Anyways, you might get this a lot too but thanks for all the reviews you guys and we've managed to reach 12 followers already! ;u;_

_I'm going to draw a simple cover for this fic soon, hope you guys'll like it when it comes out. ^^_

_Anyway, reviews, reports on grammatical issues and ideas are always welcome!_


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